BJP's clean sweep in Delhi
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — The Bharatiya Janata Party continued to maintain its stranglehold over Delhi, making a clean sweep of the seven parliamentary seats.

Despite voting the Congress to power with a thumping majority in last year’s Assembly elections, Delhiites chose to return BJP candidates in all the seven constituencies in the Capital.

The surprise winners were BJP candidates, Ms Anita Arya and Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra and prominent losers were former Union Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and CWC members, Mr R.K. Dhawan and Ms Meira Kumar.

While, the results for six of the seven constituencies were declared by late afternoon, the verdict for the Chandni Chowk seat was announced late in the evening after the Election Commission went through the complaint lodged by Congress candidate from the constituency, Mr J.P. Aggarwal.

The Election Commission declared the BJP candidate, Mr Vijay Goel, elected for the third consecutive time with a victory margin of 1,995 votes over Mr Aggarwal.

Earlier, Mr J P Aggarwal lodged a complaint expressing doubts over "certain discrepancies in the numbering of two Electronic Voting Machines" and the Returning Officer withheld the result.

This is the first time the BJP has made a clean sweep in the Capital, wresting even the Karol Bagh SC seat which it lost in the 1998 elections. The Congress had made a clean sweep in the 1984 elections. In 1977, the erstwhile Bharatiya Lok Dal won the seven seats.

South Delhi parliamentary constituency which has been in the limelight for the political big-wigs who have contested from here witnessed the BJP candidate and senior city leader, Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra, emerging victorious against former Union Minister and Congress candidate, Dr Manmohan Singh. Dr Singh was contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time.

His loss comes as a pointer to the state of affairs in the city Congress, as it could not ensure the win of even a single candidate.

Dr Manmohan Singh, lost to the BJP candidate, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra by a margin of 30,112 votes. While the BJP candidate secured 2,60,014, Dr Manmohan Singh got 2,29,902 votes.

The former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and BJP candidate for the prestigious New Delhi seat, Mr Jagmohan, continued his winning streak by winning the seat for the third time in a row. He defeated the Congress candidate, Mr R.K. Dhawan, by 27,893 votes.

Delhi Mayor and BJP candidate for Karol Bagh reserved constituency trounced two time MP and Congress candidate, Ms Meira Kumar to make her maiden entry into the Lok Sabha. She won by 12,454 votes.

Former Chief Minister of Delhi, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, who had shifted from the South Delhi seat to contest from Delhi Sadar, was trailing at one point of time. He, however, bounced back to beat former Union Minister and Congress candidate, Mr Jagdish Tytler by more than 13,800 votes.